The Navy has moved forward with the construction of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), issuing contract modifications Monday to prime contractors Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Austal USA for four of the vessels.
Each shipbuilder will construct two ships, with Lockheed Martin and partner Marinette Marine building the Freedom variant, while Austal USA is responsible for the Independence variant. The contract modification includes $699 million for Lockheed Martin and $684 million for Austal USA.
The four vessels are part of a block buy agreement between the Navy and the prime contractors for 20 LCSs, bringing the total under the December 2010 block buy arrangement to 16. Counting the first four ships built under separate contracts, the Navy has 24 LCSs either already delivered or under contract.
The contract modifications for the latest ships come weeks after the Pentagon announced it was scaling back the overall number of planned purchases from 52 to 32, casting a shadow over the future of the class.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has instructed the Navy to look at alternatives for the remaining 20 ships now needed to meet the requirement for 52 small surface combatants. That could include a modified LCS to increase its survivability, or a design more consistent with a frigate.
There are four ships remaining to be purchased under the block buy. The Navy had originally planned to buy those four in fiscal 2015, but budget documents released last week showed that number would be reduced to three. It was not clear how the Navy would divvy up the three ships to the two contractors.
Meanwhile, the fourth LCS, the USS Coronado (LCS-4), arrived in San Diego on Monday, weeks ahead of its scheduled commissioning next month. The Coronado departed the Austal USA shipbuilding yard in Mobile, Ala., following delivery to the Navy in January.
It is slated for commissioning on April 5 at Naval Air Station North Island.